Manav Suthar ten-fer spins India to 1-0 lead in Galle

Dhananjaya de Silva and Sonal Dinusha worked hard, but Manav Suthar quickly undid all their morning defiance with a devastating post-Lunch spell, spearheading India’s 165-run win in the Galle Test.

Suthar, on a hat-trick at one point, claimed three wickets in one over to pull Sri Lanka down from 199/6 to 199/9, finishing with a ten-wicket match haul.

There was no rain to greet the players in the first session (an intervention the hosts wouldn’t have minded), with clear blue skies splashed over the scenic ramparts of the fort. Just like those walls, the overnight pair of de Silva and Dinusha stayed rigid in their defensive act, playing the turn well and adeptly using the depth of their crease. By the first drinks break, they had put together 54 runs.

It was Ravindra Jadeja who broke India out of their slumber, getting a tame sweep from de Silva to balloon to short fine-leg. It snapped their 95-run stand, bringing in Niroshan Dickwella, the last real specialist batter.

But there was little to suggest Dickwella was in for the patience game. Five balls in, he brought out the reverse sweep, using the conventional version repeatedly against Kuldeep Yadav. Prasidh Krishna then tested him with short deliveries, but it was a verbal jab from Yashasvi Jaiswal at square leg that might have potentially hastened him to his end. Moments after Jaiswal poked at him for not scoring quicker, Dickwella went for an awkward slash by making room off Prasidh, only to guide it to Rishabh Pant.

Dinusha kept vigil, heavily relying on the sweep, but he quickly ran out of partners. Suthar put out his best bits, tossing and drifting it like he has and accurately getting bite from the surface. By Lunch, Sri Lanka were down to 175/6. Suthar probably skipped his meal, for he devoured the tail in the session that followed.

Starting off with Kuldeep and Jadeja, the switch to Suthar was made one over into the second session. Dinusha and Keshara Nuwantha went by eight overs unharmed, but Suthar delivered the sucker punch by making Dinusha softly nurdle a turning ball to leg gully, depriving him of his second century of the game.

It all wrapped up quickly after that. Next ball, Prabath Jayasuriya was undone by a ball that gripped and rattled his stumps. Lahiru Kumara defied a hat-trick, but edged-behind playing for spin just four balls later. It gave Suthar his fifth, with only four other Indians having taken multiple five-fers in their first two Tests. In his next over, Suthar had his tenth scalp of the game, cleaning up Nuwantha to seal 12 points for India in the World Test Championship.

To add to Sri Lanka’s misery, it started pouring minutes after the win was complete. If only it had made an earlier appearance, the hosts might still have had a chance to push it into the final session. But it wasn’t to be.